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8 of Google’s Best Worst-kept Secrets

Google has a great history of constantly making mundane searches more interesting. Chances are you already know about quite a few of their “hidden” Easter Eggs. The web-life can start to feel a little bit boring if you spend hours online for work – and it’s these little gems that we long for to help make life more fun…

When you avert your eyes from the mountains of data and the state-of-the-art crawling and indexing, you might notice that one of the reasons why Google has become a verb is because it has personality. While those pretty little Google Doodles are most definitely an example of this, the search engine giant also show off their playful side over and over again with little easter eggs. Here are a few of our favourites…

Google in 1998

Google was foundedback on 4th September 1998. If you are wondering what the search engine looked like back when it started, just type “google in 1998” into the bar and hit enter. It will redirect you to an authentic, retro version of the website. Fun for the old geeks among us.

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away

If you haven’t heard about this one yet, it is certainly worth a go. It was added to coincide with their “Choose your side” promotional campaign which allows you to theme your apps with Star Wars themed visuals. They instructed users to “Search the beginning” in this tweet. All you have to do is type that iconic beginning (a long time ago in a galaxy far far away) into the search bar, hit enter, and Google returns the results in rolling credits just like the opening of the Star Wars movies. So much love for this one.

Anagram

This one is only really fun for fans of all things lexical. Type “anagram” and it asks you if you meant “Nag a ram”. Get it? That is an anagram. Of anagram. Rather a niche Easter egg we’ll grant you that.

The Answer to Life, the Universe and everything

As an ode to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, If you ask Google what the answer to life the universe and everything is it will present you with a Google calculator and the number 42. Wondering what that means? Well, then you should go read the book – it’s a classic.

Zerg Rush

This one will resonate with über geeks but is fun for all. It’s basically a hidden mini-game. Zergs are a collection of little, low-level people who do the commander’s bidding in certain games. Type “Zerg rush” into Google and loads of little Os will come and destroy your search engine results. You can then ward them off by clicking on them and see how your score stacks up.

Just don’t try without a conventional mouse. It still works with a trackpad but it could potentially be the most stressful experience of your life.

Atari Breakout

This one works on Google images. Type in the term and the results will be transformed to a version of that fantastically retro Atari game.

Askew

This one is fairly pointless but totally worth it if you want to confuse somebody in your office. Just type “askew” and hit enter, and then and it will tilt your search results slightly of kilter.

Dinosaur Game

If you have ever lost your Internet connection, you’ll almost certainly have seen the little dinosaur that pops up on chrome. Well, you can play a game with him. Just hit the spacebar. Now you have something to do until the Internet comes back.